The South coast’s Mr Pen keeps on banging out the releases, yet I don’t hear his name mentioned anywhere. Who does he run with, where does he perform? Well it remains a mystery to me. Still anyone who keeps on banging out the work relentlessly needs to be given some recognition for their work.

Poisoned Pen has been rapping since 1999 and admirably lives up to his belief that MCs should utilise their own accents. He also believes that there should be some point or subject matter in the lyrics and it is refreshing to hear topics you can relate to.

Here we have Poisoned Pen’s latest offering, a five track Mix CD. Yes, I hear you say everyone has a mix CD, but artists have to fill all the usual pigeon holes in order to get a look in, so after an astonishing six full length LP releases I guess it is about time the venomous one had his Mix CD too.

The CD opens with Celebrity’s Dead an evocative track with a sort of Harpsichord riff. Poisoned Pen as usual is able to take a topic and keep it going for a full song. As today’s society is so obsessed with celebrity it is hard to not miss it, but Mr Pen finds this a sad sate of affairs as most celebrities are a waste of space.

A plucked guitar and big bassy beat are the sounds chosen for the slightly faster 3 Sheets To The Wind, a humorous track about drinking and abusing other drugs as well. The well used Run DMC beat makes a comeback for Sucker MC’s. This is Poisoned Pen’s track in which he boasts about his skills and how he could take apart rival MCs. This track is ultra simple, but remains true to what Hip Hop is all about.

The penultimate track A Measured Dose has a skippy beat and piano as Poisoned Pen explains his love for Hip Hop and equates his musical offerings to giving the listeners a dose of what he has to offer. The CD finishes off with The Talented Mr Pen another track full of braggadocio. The whole track has a grimy dirty sound which must be deliberate, but gives the track a touch of a demoey feel.

All told, another solid offering, but whilst Mr Pen has the lyrics and stories, he doesn’t get too outrageous with his flows. Poisoned Pen has a distinctive voice and accent, which I guess some people may not take to, but I find his diction clear and more than some MCs can understand what he is conveying to me.